<p> Letter of Inquiry Due Date: June 30, 2017</p><p>(For programming that will occur during the summer of 2018 or the 2018-19 school year)</p><p>Any nonprofit organization or school district interested in submitting a grant request to The Stocker Foundation must first submit a Letter of Inquiry</p><p>The Stocker Foundation aims to lessen the achievement gap for under-resourced prekindergarten through 3rd grade public school students by investing in programs that strengthen Reading Literacy. Successful Letters of Inquiry will document how a program ties-back to reading literacy, promoting academic gains for those students served.</p><p>Areas of Interest:  Supplemental Programs that move students toward grade-level reading mastery</p><p> Comprehensive Intervention Strategies/Whole School Improvement that increase overall literacy achievement by third grade</p><p> Book Distribution Programs that increase students’ access to print materials, encourage students’ reading outside of the classroom , and develops students’ life-long love of reading</p><p> Programs that support Emerging Literacy and Reading Skills among preschoolers (children enter kindergarten “ready to read”)</p><p> Some limited funding is available for services that can help remove barriers toward reading success (Food Bank sponsored children’s hunger programs such as the BackPack Program)</p><p>Using a maximum of six-pages, respond to each of the following: 1) Contact and organizational information (including email and website address); 2) Identify if funding is sought for Summer 2018 or the 2018-2019 school year; 3) Brief description of program to be delivered (discuss the method of service delivery; number of participants to be served; targeted communities, school districts, and/or elementary schools; and race/ethnicity and income demographics); 4) Project Budget (how will funds from The Stocker Foundation be used); and 5) Intended results related to literacy outcomes for students served.</p><p>Letters of Inquiry are due no later than June 30, 2017. For those LOIs moving forward, a full proposal is due by 10/2/2017 for a spring 2018 decision. Notification provided in writing. The Stocker Foundation has one annual competitive grant cycle. Communities currently funded are Lorain & Cuyahoga counties, OH; Pima County, AZ; Alameda & San Francisco counties, CA; Dona Ana County, NM; King County WA; and Hartford County, CT.</p><p>The Stocker Foundation; 201 Burns Road, Elyria, OH 44035; 440-366-4885 www.stockerfoundation.org</p>